The process of applying for a super visa family sponsorship

The Super Visa for parents and grandparents was announced by the Canadian Government on December 2011. The Super Visa helps parents and grandparents of permanent residents and Canadian Citizens to visit their families for an extended period of time. This will allow parents and grandparents to stay in Canada up to 2 years without renewing their visa and it is available for 10 years. Before the family members were allowed to stay for maximum 6 months and had to apply for extension and had to pay fees every six months. But with the new application method the eligible family member will pay lesser fees.

Documents has to be included with the application:

Valid Travel Document (Passport etc..),

Two recent passport photographs for each family member,

Application fee (Visa exempt country citizens do not have to pay a fee),

Must be financially strong and must prove that has enough money to cover the visit,

Evidence of relationship of the parent/grandparent to the Canadian Citizen or permanent resident,

A letter of invitation from the Canadian Citizen or permanent resident,

Proof from the child or grandchild that he/she meet the Low Income Cut Off ( LICO),

Proof of private medical insurance valid for a minimum one year from a Canadian Insurance Company.

If the family member is eligible and once he/she completes the application forms he/she must submit it with the supporting documents. Processing Times depends on the Canada visa office where the application is sent.

After the application is made a visa officer may ask for interview. And parent/grandparent should undergo for medical examination. Of course there are pros and cons to the Super Visa application. But this is a big development that will bring families together in a shorter time. Back parents/grandparents are not allowed to make any permanent residency applications for at least a 2 year time. But 2 year will help to clear the backlog.

Parents/Grandparents cannot include dependants in their application. Only spouses or common law partners are eligible to accompany. Canada visa officers considers some factors before they decide if a person is eligible or not. The person must satisfy the visa officer that he/she will leave the country at the end of the visit.

The host must satisfy some economical income parameters. The lowest income for 1 person family is $22,637 CAD while it is $42,065 CAD for a four person family.

After the visa was launched it has earned positive reviews. For example Liberal Immigation Critic Kevin Lamoureux mentioned that it would help to clear up the backlog and stated that there is no doubt about it.

And on lately march Ottawa started considering to limit the eligibility of immigration sponsorship of parents and grandparents. The considerations are:

Raise of the income requirements of the sponsors and this will bind the sponsor to support their elderly family members for a lifetime.

Adopting the balance of family test.

Restricting eligibility of sponsors who are Canadian citizens.

With the Super Visa Canada will benefit in a few factors. First the health insurance. Only Canadian Companies can insure the applicants. This will bring really a good benefit to insurance companies. The second as we know the sponsorship for parents/grandparents is withdrawn at the moment. This will make the government to save huge of welfare benefits.

I am not sure if this will help to clear the backlog. My opinion it is not about the backlog. It is about not letting low income Canadian citizens or permanent families to bring their families to Canada. I just want to say it is always about the money.

Cem Devrim TuretkenImmigration Program Student at Ashton College
under the tutelage of Jose Godoy Toku